Büyükdere Avenue

Büyükdere Avenue at the Levent Junction, with feeder to the motorway O-2 (left).

Büyükdere Avenue in Maslak, heading south.

Büyükdere Avenue (Turkish: Büyükdere Caddesi) is a major avenue which runs through the districts of Şişli (Esentepe quarter), Beşiktaş (Levent quarter) and Sarıyer (Maslak quarter) on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey.

It begins at Şişli Mosque and runs in an eastward direction partly under the viaduct of the inner-city motorway O-1 through Mecidiyeköy, Esentepe, until reaching Zincirlikuyu; where it joins with Barbaros Boulevard and turns northward passing through Levent, Sanayi Mahallesi, Maslak and by the Fatih Forest, ending at the Hacıosman Slope on the Sarıyer district border. Its total length is 14 km (8.7 mi). From Zincirlikuyu to Maslak, it forms a border line between the districts of Kağıthane in the east and Beşiktaş in the west. It is named after the Büyükdere neighborhood of Sarıyer district, where it connects to.

The metro line M2 (Yenikapı–Hacıosman) follows the avenue between Şişli and Hacıosman, featuring nine metro stations. Headquarters of many banks, business centers, shopping centers, luxury hotels and numerous skyscrapers built in recent years are located around Büyükdere Avenue, making it an important route of financial, business and social life.

Residential or office skyscrapers found on Büyükdere Avenue include the Diamond of Istanbul, Istanbul Sapphire, Isbank Tower 1, Sabancı Center, Kanyon Towers, among others. Notable shopping malls around the avenue are Istanbul Cevahir, Kanyon Shopping Mall and MetroCity AVM. Educational institutions on the avenue include Haliç University, ISOV Vocational High School for Construction, Istanbul Technical University's Maslak Campus, Işık University, and Yıldız Technical University Vocational College.

Two major cemeteries are situated on the avenue: the Mecidiyeköy Italo-Jewish Cemetery and Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.^[1]

2003 bombing

On November 20, 2003, the headquarters of the HSBC Bank Turkey on Büyükdere Avenue in Levent was car bombed by a terrorist (suicide bomber) linked to Al Qaeda, killing and wounding a number of people.^[2] The street was closed to traffic for ten hours.^[3]

References

1. Onur Demirbaş (2014-08-25). "Ne kendi tarihimizi, ne de dünya tarihini koruyabiliyoruz". Hürriyet (in Turkish).
2. "Powerful blasts kill at least 27 in Istanbul". CNN. 21 November 2003.
3. "Büyükdere Caddesi tek yönlü açıldı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2003-11-20. Retrieved 2014-08-26.

External links